Avocado injuries a thing of the past?

Earlier this month we had news of the Hawaiian avocado “as big as my head” vying for a place in the record books.

Now Marks and Spencer is the first supermarket to sell a seedless cocktail avocado – which could help avoid all those pesky avocado-related injuries.

“Avocado hand” is apparently the bain of many middle class kitchens, prompting claims that the fruit should carry warning labels.

Leading plastic surgeon Simon Eccles has said he treats about four patients a week at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital for knife wounds caused by cutting into the fruit.Cocktail avocados cost about £2 for a pack – so for a bruch of smashed avocado on sour dougth toast it might be better to opt for the originals.

But that shouldn’t be a problem with the new arrival on the shelves.

Cocktail avocados are about five-to-eight centimetres long, with an edible skin and flesh which M&S describes as “smooth and creamy”.

They are grown in Spain, and are the result of unpollinated avocado blossom.

The fruit is “only available during December, when usually it is sent to a Parisian food market and bought by chefs to be used in top-end restaurants. This year M&S has been able to source a small number the avocados exclusively,” the supermarket says.

Last year, M&S brought us the mini and giant avocados.

And, of course, those of us with long memories, will remember that it was M&S which first introduced avocados to the UK public back in 1968 as an ‘avocado pear’ which people would eat with with custard

“Charlotte Curtis, M&S agronomist, says: “We’ve had the mini, the giant, ready-sliced and we’re now launching the holy grail of avocados – stoneless.”

The cocktail avocados will cost £2 for a pack. What we don’t know is how many you’ll need for your smashed avocado on sour dough toast.